Mystery of 'jelly doughnut' Martian rock solved

Feb. 14, 2014
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Researchers have determined this now-infamous Martian rock resembling a jelly doughnut, dubbed Pinnacle Island, is a piece of a larger rock broken and moved by the wheel of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity in early January. / NASA via AP

by USA TODAY

by USA TODAY

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - Scientists have solved the mystery of the "jelly doughnut" rock on Mars that appeared to come out of nowhere.

NASA said Friday that a wheel of the rover Opportunity broke it off a larger rock and then kicked it into the field of view.

The Internet was abuzz last month when the space agency released side-by-side images of the same patch of ground. Only one image showed the rock, which was white around the outside and dark red in the middle, and less than 2 inches wide.

Scientists had suspected that one of Opportunity's wheels kicked the rock as it drove. They received confirmation after analyzing recent images of the original piece of rock.